“I was just following protocol. That backpack was a health hazard.”
A few execs nodded, eager to agree with anyone who sounded confident.
But a junior staffer, a young guy with glasses and a nervous habit of tapping his pen, spoke up.
“I heard Veil Holdings sent someone to test us, like a secret shopper thing. What if it was her?”
The room went quiet. Gavin laughed, sharp and dismissive. “A CEO in that outfit? Come on, kid.”
Before the meeting ended, a woman from the PR team, her glasses slipping down her nose, hesitated, then spoke up.
“Sir, there’s a memo from Veil Holdings. It mentions an anonymous evaluation.”
She slid a tablet across the table, the screen glowing with an email: “Customer experience audit in progress.”
Gavin’s face froze, his fingers hovering over the tablet. He scanned the words, then shoved it back.
“This is nonsense,” he said, but his voice cracked, betraying a flicker of doubt.
